Vostok 2 facts for kids
Model of the Vostok capsule with its upper stage
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| Operator | Soviet space program |
|---|---|
| Harvard designation | 1961 Tau 1 |
| Mission duration | 1 day, 1 hour, 18 minutes |
| Orbits completed | 17.5 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Vostok-3KA No.4 |
| Manufacturer | Experimental Design OKB-1 |
| Launch mass | 4,731 kilograms (10,430 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 1 |
| Members | Gherman Titov |
| Callsign | Орёл (Oryol - "Eagle") |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | August 6, 1961, 06:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Vostok-K 8K72K |
| Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | August 7, 1961, 07:18 UTC |
| Landing site | Krasny Kut 50°51′10″N 47°01′14″E / 50.85276°N 47.02048°E |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Eccentricity | 0.00501 |
| Perigee | 166 kilometres (103 mi) |
| Apogee | 232 kilometres (144 mi) |
| Inclination | 64.93 degrees |
| Period | 88.46 minutes |
| Epoch | 6 August 1961, 02:00:00 UTC |
 
Vostok programme
Manned flights |
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Vostok 2 (Russian: 'Восток-2, Orient 2 or East 2) was a Soviet space mission. It carried cosmonaut Gherman Titov into orbit for a full day to study the effects of a long period of weightlessness on the human body. Titov orbited the earth over 17 times. Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1 had only done one orbit.
The flight was an almost complete success. Problems included not turning on a heater which meant the temperature dropped to 50 °F (10 °C), a period of space sickness, and problems on re-entry when the reentry module failed to separate cleanly from its service module.
Titov took manual control of the spacecraft for a short while. The Soviets admitted that Titov did not land with his spacecraft. Titov said he ejected from his capsule to test another landing system. It is now known that all Vostok program landings were done this way.
The re-entry capsule was destroyed during development of the Voskhod spacecraft.
As of 2012, Titov is the youngest person to reach space. He was 25 years old at launch.
See also
In Spanish: Vostok 2 para niños
